Friday, 04 March 2005

Video Games get a new ratingA new video game rating category, E10+ (Everyone 10 and older), was introduced this week by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in order to give parents more guidance when determining the age appropriateness of a particular video game title.

Nintendo' s Donkey Jungle Beat will be one of the first to receive this new rating.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory body set up by the industry in response to the rising tide of video game violence in the the early 1990' s.

The board is not a government organization rather it independently applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles adopted by the industry. The ESRB says it rates over 1,000 games per year.

The board said that " E10+" would mark games that might contain " moderate amounts of cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes." Games appropriate for all ages will continue to receive an E ( Everyone ) rating.

In a statement issued this week, the ESRB said it had consulted numerous child development experts and academicians in creating the E10+ category and found broad agreement with its introduction and the theory underlying it.

" Given the significant developmental differences between very young and teen-age children, the E10+ category will be very useful for parents," added Dr. Ralph I. Lopez, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Cornell Medical College, and Author of " The Teen Health Book: A Parent' s Guide to Adolescent Health and Well-Being."

" We expect that many of the best selling sports, racing, and adventure games will continue to receive E ratings appropriate for ages six and older," said Vance. " Games with content that may not be suitable for younger ages of six to nine, such as racing games with more extreme crashes or fighting games with super heroes, will now receive an E10+ rating," Vance explained.

Video games now have six ratings which range from " EC" for early childhood to " AO" for adults only.

Parents should note that the ratings are meant to be a guide and may not always be in line your views.

Digital Home Canada recommends parents still take the time to examine any video game your child buys to ensure it meets with your approval.


http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=228&Itemid=52

i realize that this news is more than a month old, but i saw no one post about it (as i guess it doesn' t really affect any of us), and i only just ran across while doing some research for school.....

.....by the way, does anyone have any info about rating systems and how they are enforced in canada?? i don' t just mean video games, but movies and music as well. the only thing i know is that when buying music, a 7 year old could walk up to the counter with the new 50 cent cd which contains coarse and degrading language, pictures of naked ladies, people weilding guns, etc.....which is all to be covered by the explicit content label on the front, but even though he may be 7, we are not allowed to refuse the sale to them (though i would like to refuse sale based on the fact that it sucks). we also don' t have to ID them to get proof of age either. is this the same with movies and video games??

I don' t know too much about it. I have heard of people being ID' d to go to a movie, but I am not sure if the same holds true for renting or buying.

Regarding the new rating, i think it is a good thing... so long as parents use it. But that is a rant for another day.

wow...over protective parents are gettin there way huh, i mean this is gettin out of hand pretty soon youll see a teen rating on mario bros. where will it end

lordsofthesea, i don' t think that is the issue at all. I think that this system is meant to further classify games, not restrict game play. I think it is a useful tool for parents, especially ones who are not avid gamers (or even know what an xbox is)

(or even know what an xbox is)

Any parent that doesn' t know what an Xbox is should have their parental rights taken away~

the new rating is garbage in some ways because the new game shawdow the hedghog is rated t and burnout revenge is rated e+ 10